School Board: Progress, Pro-Activity at the Fore

— by Ayn Gailey —

Let’s face it, monthly Orcas Island School District (OISD) board meetings are not the hot ticket on the island. It’s normal to not see any citizens or parents even attend. This month’s meeting on May 25, however, was attended by more citizens than usual, including new student body representatives, along with school board candidates Joshua Culp (OHS class of 2008) and Diane Boerstler (current PTSA president).

For those who do attend meetings regularly, it’s clear from this month’s meeting that Superintendent Webb has hit his stride. Webb presented an impressive mix of data points, programs and preventions underway, and programs and planning being considered to shape the future of our schools on multiple levels in a comprehensive manner.

OISD Board Member Janet Brownell announced that the Orcas Island Education Fund (OIEF) is hosting its annual fundraiser, Food for Thought, on Saturday, Jun. 3, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Four Winds Camp in Deer Harbor. Dinner, libations, auction, and fun included. Tickets are $100 for the public and $50 for OISD staff. (Tickets available at OIEF.org )

Elementary School Principal Report
Elementary Principal Lorena Stankevich announced that the school has secured a grant which will allow the school to hire a para-educator to work under social worker Sandi Burt’s supervision to help improve the overall social and emotional climate at the elementary school and behavioral work with individual kids. The grant will also help increase the number of check-ins the school staff can make with individuals.

When it came to the Smarter Balanced Assessment tests, “Teachers and staff did an amazing job of tracking student progress and maintaining a calm environment…and the kids worked really hard,” reported Stankevich. Her report also gave a special thanks to the PTSA for sponsoring the Smarter Balanced testing snacks for all students every day of testing and to Orcas Community Resource Center for supporting pre-kindergarten and kindergarten transition events!

High School ASB Report
New high school ASB representatives Gabe Smith and Journey Howden provided an update on newly elected ASB and class officers. They announced that the prom will be hosted at Random Howse on Sunday, May 27, to be followed by a post-prom pancake breakfast, planned by parents, to be held at the Community Church.

Capital Projects Report
Liz LeRoy, Project Manager for capital projects, gave a Facilities and Pre-Bond Work Update and clarified items on the list of final close-out construction for the 2012 Renovation Bond.

Business Report
Business Manager Keith Whitaker summed up the district’s financial status, emphasizing that enrollment has been stable and that there was not much new information on the budget since the last meeting.

Special Ed & Oasis Report
Becky Bell, OISD Administrator of the Special Ed and Alternative Learning (OASIS) programs, provided a detailed report, written and verbal, on both departments.

Highlights: OASIS is at capacity and a wait list has been initiated. Retiring OISD board member Tony Ghazel asked if there was any pushback on testing from OASIS families. Bell stated that she was pleased with testing results in terms of participation. According to Bell, “Work is underway to complete a draft of a professional development plan for paraprofessionals and certificated special education staff for next school year.” On the list for available professional development opportunities includes training in:

• Autism
• Anxiety
• Student self-regulation
• Right response and behavior de-escalation

Plans are also underway for programs in behavior intervention, progress monitoring, and learning disabilities. The program is expected to start the 17-18 school year with a total of 78 special education students.

Middle & High School Principal Report
Principal Kyle Freeman reported that Inspire Orcas 2017 was a success. “We had a wonderful opportunity to connect students with community member. Fourteen members of the Orcas community took part in this year’s event. The goal of this day was to motivate our students to think about their own potential and how they could construct a meaningful, fun and interesting path with their lives.”

After a keynote speech by John Vechey, the following community members spoke: Haley Winchell, Alessandra Braun, Karl Kruger, Brook Meinhardt, Martin Lund, Robert (Bob) Dash, Steve Hardee, Audra Query Lawlor, Joe Gaydos, Janet Brownell, Ann Bertino, Angela Frank, Jake Perrine, and Jim Bredouw.

In sports, the baseball season has ended. Mia and Zoe Lewis-Schunk are moving on to the state tournament in golf; Leif Gustafson, Rowan Lister and Ewan Lister are all competing for spots in the boys golf tournament; and the girls softball team will be playing undefeated Friday Harbor in the first round of softball playoffs.

The middle school is busy preparing for the end of the year. Following testing this week upcoming school events will include:

• An exploratory class camping trip
• An overnight trip to Sucia Island
• The middle school dance on June 16
• 5he annual Wild Waves trip on June 21

Superintendent Report
Superintendent Webb reminded the board that his staff has been diligently working on truancy issues. “Orcas is out in front on this matter,” Webb informed the board. In fact, the district has received accolades for their attempt to decrease truancy, and over the past several months, staff has been working closely with Linnea Anderson and Mike Jennings of the San Juan County Juvenile Court Services to develop a Truancy Board. The board will provide a preventive program for the district to work with in conjunction with the juvenile court system to combat chronic absenteeism before the problem reaches the courts.

This month the district entered into a contract with Dr. Tim Kopet for school psychologist services for the 2017-18 school year.

There was also an update on the Strategic Plan, which will serve as a 3-5 year road map for the district. Consultant Mitch Everton held eight meetings with staff, parents, and community members, and will be back in July for a two-hour work session with board members. According to Webb, “The benefits of this process are: Clear communication of district priorities to stakeholders, increased coordination in the delivery of services, resource stewardship, and alignment with the community.” After all meetings are conducted, a mission and vision statement will be crafted from the results.

Susan Scott, Orcas Island resident and author of the national bestseller Fierce Conversations! Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time will help implement a program in the fall for students. Scott is passionate about equipping young people with the insights and tools that will help them successfully navigate their personal and professional lives.

A national Virtual Kidnapping scam in which parents receive phone calls notifying them that their child has been kidnapped, has now made its way to the island and targeted one of our very own families. The school shared the following news report on the scams: king5.com/mb/news/crime/kidnapping-phone-scam-reaching-homes-in-everett-and-snohomishcounty/420919639

[Editor’s note: We spoke to an Orcas Islander resident who experienced this scam and have found that the FBI has issued warnings about the uprise of virtual kidnapping scams targeting parents. The following news report provides one woman’s experience as a victim, similar to the one experienced by the island resident of this crime and tips on how to handle it: nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/fbi-warns-of-growing-number-of-virtual-kidnapping-scams-800489027901]

Webb and board members have been working diligently to collect feedback from the community on the next bond. According to Brownell, “We are in escalation on the bond project.” Board member Scott Lancaster shared the opinion of some citizens that recommend the district “run the same bond because the [consensus] is that there is a group of like-minded people who did not work hard enough last time to vote or support the bond because they assumed it would pass, but will work harder in the next round of voting to make sure it passes.” Community response also indicates that voters would like the pot hole-ridden parking lot of the high school included in the bond.

Public Comments
After a longer than usual meeting, public comments regarding the Highly Capable program were met with a terse response. However, when a high school student expressed her concerns that about the lack of heating in the high school, board member Brownell assured her that the heating issue is being made a priority and will be addressed whether or not the bond moves forward.